Judge tosses Sen. Ron Johnson’s Obamacare lawsuit

A federal judge said Monday that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) cannot challenge the Obamacare policy that lawmakers and their staff obtain health insurance through the exchanges.

The ruling could prove ominous for House Republicans as they prepare to file suit against the Obama administration, also against Obamacare. That suit would focus on a different issue, the president’s delay of the employer mandate.

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Judge William C. Griesbach, a George W. Bush appointee, said that Article III of the Constitution prevents Johnson’s lawsuit from moving forward and suggests that any remedy must come from Congress. He said that the Wisconsin Republican cannot prove he is injured by the policy, which moved lawmakers and some of their staff from the usual federal employee health benefit plan and into the new Obamacare exchanges.

“Under our constitutional design, in the absence of a concrete injury to a party that can be redressed by the courts, disputes between the executive and legislative branches over the exercise of their respective powers are to be resolved through the political process, not by decisions issued by federal judges,” he wrote.

Johnson argued that the Obama administration decision to allow the government to contribute to staffers’ and members’ health costs was not allowed under the Affordable Care Act. He said his injury was that the policy put him at an unfair disadvantage with his voters and required him to file a form distinguishing staff and non-staff. Griesbach said that was not enough.

Johnson said he and his legal team will review his next steps, presumably whether to appeal to a higher court.

“The Obama administration violated its own signature health care law by giving special treatment to members of Congress and their staffs,” he said in a statement. “I believe that this executive action by the Obama administration is unlawful and unfair, and that it is only one of many examples of this president’s abuse of his constitutional duty.”

But the judge did suggest that the basis of Johnson’s suit — the administration’s decision to allow the federal contributions to health plans — could be very problematic for the administration if it violated the law.

“If proven, this would be a violation of Article I of the Constitution, which reposes the lawmaking power in the legislative branch,” he wrote. “The violation alleged is not a mere technicality. It strikes at one of the most important safeguards against tyranny that the framers erected — the separation of powers.“